“Lack of certainty and common sense regulation are among the key barriers to an improved job climate in California,” said Allan Zaremberg, President and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce. “It behooves lawmakers to zero in on those bills that will provide solutions employers need to begin investing in our economy and hiring people again.”

The list of identified job creator bills supports CalChamber’s Renew California plan, first released in 2010 and updated in 2011 to provide policymakers with a framework for restoring California’s competitiveness and giving job creators the certainty and stability to make investment and hiring decisions. Renew California is based on five pillars for economic recovery which include:

Reducing regulatory and litigation costs of hiring new employees and keeping them on the job;

Ensuring certainty and stability of private investments in plants, equipment and technology;

Enacting a fair and predictable tax structure;

Investing in public and private works that provide the backbone for economic growth; and

Providing a world-class education to prepare high school students for work or college, and supporting public colleges and universities to prepare students and innovate technologies.

Legislation included on the job creator list released on March 27 will change throughout the year as bills are amended or new language is introduced.

AB 1073 (Fuentes; D-Sylmar) Project Streamlining — Promotes the use of cost-efficient energy by allowing a solar facility to convert from solar thermal technology to photovoltaic technology without having to file a new application.

AB 1095 (B.Berryhill; R-Ceres) Reduces Regulatory Burdens — Ensures transparency and avoids costly litigation for business by creating a hearing board to resolve disagreements between businesses and the California Air Resources Board.

Education

SB 1402 (Lieu; D-Torrance) Better Workforce Development — Helps improve alignment of the state’s workforce needs and education resources by reauthorizing the Economic and Workforce Development program within the California Community College system.

Economic Development

AB 1804 (Valadao; R-Hanford) Project Labor Agreements — Promotes job and economic growth by freeing up local funds through elimination of penalties on local government that prohibit project labor agreements.

AB 2485 (Hueso; D-San Diego) Provides Development Opportunities — Promotes private-public partnerships by allowing the Department of Transportation to contract with private companies for the operation of rest areas in conjunction with the development of a retail establishment.

SB 1161 (Padilla; D-Pacoima) Internet-Based Services — Provides certainty and creates a level playing field for California business by assuring that Voice over Internet Protocol- and Internet Protocol-enabled services will not be regulated at the state level but rather at the federal level.

SB 1115 (Dutton; R-Rancho Cucamonga) Workplace Flexibility for Small Employers — Alleviates the burden of unnecessary regulations by allowing an employer with 10 or fewer employees to implement an alternative workweek schedule at the request of the employees.

Legal Reform

SB 1374 (Harman; R-Huntington Beach) Reliance on State Agencies’ Written Advice — Protects employers from inappropriate litigation by affirming they can rely upon the state government to provide them with information regarding how to comply with the law.

Regulatory Reform

AB 1612 (Lara; D-Los Angeles) Administrative Practices — Promotes government accountability and a transparent process by requiring proposed new residential building standards to include the cost of compliance, potential benefits of the proposed standard and the underlying model used to achieve those estimates.

AB 1982 (Wagner; R-Irvine) Provides Accountability for Expensive Regulation — Provides certainty and flexibility for businesses by extending the time frame when they are required to comply with new regulations.

AB 2091 (B.Berryhill; R-Ceres) Increases Regulatory Certainty — Provides certainty and the ability for businesses to meet government mandates by requiring that new technology required to implement a new regulation is available and affordable.

Taxation

AB 1510 (Garrick; R-Carlsbad) Health Care Expenses Tax Deductions — Encourages job growth through freeing small businesses to invest in business growth instead of spending limited resources on health care expenses, by entitling individuals, including the self-employed, to a state tax deduction for contributions to a Health Savings Account (HSA) in conformity with federal tax law.

AB 1605 (Garrick; R-Carlsbad) Tax Break for Small Businesses — Reduces upfront costs for small businesses by eliminating the minimum franchise tax for the first year the business is in operation.

AB 1972 (Huber; D-El Dorado Hills) More Manufacturing/R&D Jobs — Encourages employers to maintain and expand their manufacturing operations in California by providing a full sales-and-use-tax exemption for purchases of manufacturing and research and development equipment made through December 31, 2018.

AB 2026 (Fuentes; D-Sylmar) Film Credit Extension — Protects jobs in the film industry by extending the film tax credit for five years, until July 1, 2020.

SB 1167 (R. Calderon; D-Montebello) Film Credit Extension — Protects jobs in the film industry by extending the film tax credit for five years, until July 1, 2020.

Tourism

AB 2113 (Hueso; D-San Diego) Enhanced Driver License — Encourages international trade and tourism by authorizing the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue enhanced driver licenses to U.S. citizens to expedite legal traffic at the border.